The Wide Face Advantage in Speed Dating

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching perhaps you, along with many others are debating trying speed dating! An interesting new study has offered evidence that men’s facial width provides an advantage during speed dating events in regards to being chosen for a second date, and higher interest from women in short term relationships.

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Women may perceive men with wider faces as more dominant and more attractive for short-term relationships, according to a new study found in Psychological Science. 

The study shows that within three minutes of meeting in real life, women find more dominant, wider-faced men attractive for short-term relationships, and want to go on another date with them, according to psychological scientist and lead researcher Katherine Valentine of Singapore Management University.

According to Valentine, there’s considerable academic debate about whether physical dominance is advantageous in mating – that is, actually attractive to women. At the same time, researchers have been exploring facial width-to-height ratio as a possible physical indicator of male dominance.

This new study, she says, addressed both issues:

High male facial width-to-height has previously been associated with surviving in hand-to-hand combat, aggressiveness, self-perceived power, and CEO’s financial success. The study shows it’s also a reasonably good indicator of perceived dominance – not only that, it piques women’s interest in a face-to-face speed-dating setting.

Valentine and colleagues hypothesized that increased facial width-to-height, due to its link with testosterone, would make men seem more dominant and more desirable as romantic interests in the short-term. But, because facial width is also linked with undesirable traits like aggression, women would not see these men as more desirable for long-term relationships.

                        

The researchers studied over 150 men and women, ages 18 to 32, who participated in one of several speed-dating events. The participants were all single and they received no compensation other than the prospect of making a potential romantic match. Each speed-dating interaction lasted 3 minutes.

Male speed-daters with higher facial width-to-height, as measured by computer software, were independently rated as more dominant. Women not only expressed more interest in short-term relationships with these men, but were also more likely to choose them for a second date. These associations held even after the researchers accounted for the men’s age and independently-rated attractiveness.

Further analyses suggest that the link between higher facial width-to-height and greater interest in a short-term relationship could be accounted for, at least in part, by perceived dominance.

The fact that facial width-to-height predicted whether women wanted another date with a man came as a surprise: Previous studies have found that women prefer more dominant men for short-term relationships, but almost all of these studies were based in the lab and did not involve an interaction that could actually lead to mating and dating. The fact that women wanted to see these men again suggests that the findings are robust – women aren’t just saying they are interested, they’re actually willing to be contacted by these men.

So what does this mean to you? Keep in mind that having a wider face could possibly help secure a second date or interest from women in a short- term relationship. While these results compliment a wide body of similar research on facial-metrics and attraction, this information should be taken with a grain of salt.

So why not try something new this Valentine’s Day and give speed dating a shot! Remember to keep an open mind and have some fun…Who knows what could happen!

Valentine, K. A., Li, N. P., Penke, L., & Perrett, D. I. (2014). Judging a Man by the Width of His Face The Role of Facial Ratios and Dominance in Mate Choice at Speed-Dating Events. Psychological science, 0956797613511823.